Lost But Found
by AriandEzra
Summary: "A guy and a girl can be just friends. But at one point, they will fall for each other. Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever." In a logical world, they weren't supposed to be together. But when circumstances befall Ian and Lucy, fate might taken a turn for the better. {Lucian; don't read if you don't like the couple}
1. Chapter 1

**I'd like to give a giant thank you to Marlene King and the writing team of Pretty Little Liars for breaking my heart and making it hard for me to write for Ezria. I don't have much to comment on this cracktastic decision except for the fact that I don't think Ezra is bad. POHH will be updated in time; my heart's still healing.**

**Anyhow, I've always wanted to write a full length Lucian story and I really like what I have planned for this one. If you aren't interested in them as a couple, don't read or leave a nasty comment. But if you love them, please read and leave a lovely comment! 10 or more gets an update quicker!**

**DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with Lucy or Ian nor do I know them personally. This story is fiction and is purely written for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. **

* * *

New York City in early November was something of a dreamland –at least for people who loved the idea of brisk weather and warm scarves. The notion to grab a hot chocolate or coffee while walking the busy streets was never outlandish, especially with the various franchises that offered them on every corner. Central Park went from a mossy bright green to an autumn array and people cheeks were tinted rose from the wind instead of drenched with sweat from the hot summer sun.

Ian was definitely one of those people. As great as Los Angeles had treated him in the past, there was nothing like the east coast. Snow felt like home and sweaters weren't stuffy and uncomfortable to wear. In short, he loved it. He loved blending into the busy streets where people couldn't pick him out as a celebrity. Sure, the people who asked him for autographs at the stage-door of the play he was in knew who he was, but Ian felt free to be _Ian. _Not Ezra Fitz.

His apartment was warm and cozy, heat pumping through the spacious dwelling at full blast. Despite being bigger, it was still decorated exactly how Ian would typically decorate a space; full of photos and books. Every surface had a photo frame with some memory and every shelf, including his television rack, had some form of a library built into it. The kitchen was filled with the smell of something delicious, but it wasn't Ian who was cooking.

Currently, Ian was lying on the plush carpeted floor, blue eyes trained on the hazel ones of an infant. He smiled as the baby girl swatted at one of the hanging ornaments on her play-set and gurgled to him with a wide gummy grin.

"Is that so, Gracie?" The baby giggled and kicked at one of the lower hanging ornaments that made a rattling noise. Ian shifted, resting his chin on his folded arms. "You're really too cute. I wonder where you get it from."

"Me," chimed a feminine voice from the kitchen area. "You can also thank me for teaching you baby speak those many moons ago; even though it's terrifyingly high."

"It's not like yours is much better, Luc," Ian replied, causing the young woman to chuckle and go back to her cooking. He chuckled while tickling the soles of Gracie's kicking little feet. "Mommy's silly, isn't she? She thinks she's smarter than Daddy."

Lucy rolled her eyes and took the simmering pain of vegetarian stir fry off the stove to let it cool before serving it. There had been too many incidents before when either of them had burned the roofs of their mouths. She decided it wasn't a fire hazard to leave the kitchen and lay down on the other side of Gracie's play-set.

"Daddy's just jealous."

"Jealous of what," Ian asked, looking past his daughter to Lucy. He certainly wasn't jealous that he hadn't been the one to go through the labor and the mood swings to give birth to their baby girl. Lucy often used that against him, saying that she and Gracie had a bond he could never understand. To which he'd counter back saying a father's bond with his daughter conquered all.

Lucy pursed her lips. "That I can cook."

"Oh please, you're not the only one with culinary skills.

Gracie giggled again, raising her tiny hand to Ian's cheek. He smirked at Lucy. "I think someone's deeming a winner to this battle."

"Shut up," Lucy said, lightly stroking the top of Gracie's head. When she was born, she was graced with a full head of Ian's dark curly tufts and Lucy's big hazel eyes. Neither of them could picture a more beautiful baby. Then again, neither of them had pictured a baby transpiring between the both of them in the first place. But a drunken turned passionate night at the Pretty Little Liars series wrap party had changed their fates entirely. "Dinner's almost ready."

With a groan, he pushed up from the floor and carefully lifted Gracie up from her play-set. Cradling the baby against his chest, Ian went to place her in the incredibly cushioned baby swing his mother had handed down to him when he told his parents of Lucy's pregnancy. According to her, it was a miracle worker when babies needed to be distracted. As much as he didn't want to, Ian gently lowered Gracie into the seat and pressed the button so that it would vibrate gently and keep her in a good mood while he and Lucy ate dinner.

"I wish I had one of those for Nashville," Lucy said, bringing around two plates filled with long grained brown rice and her vegan specialty stir fry. "She gets so fussy when I try and sit down to dinner. I usually have to end up eating with her in my lap."

Ian chuckled and reached for the open bottle of wine that sat on the table. He poured himself and Lucy each a glass and then capped the expensive and sparsely used Merlot to save for a later date. "You spoil her when I can't."

"Gracie's made you a total softie," Lucy replied, digging into the steaming plate that sat before her. "Not that you weren't before."

"She has me whipped," Ian laughed, stabbing a red bell pepper with his fork. As the two tapped into their dinner, they tapped out of one another. Only the hum of Gracie's swing filled the silence, but even that wasn't enough to fill the void of conversation.

It hadn't always been like this. Once upon a time, Lucy and Ian had been the closest of friends. He'd accompanied her to an awards show she hadn't felt confident enough to go to alone to (also Gracie's namesake) and she'd helped him raise money for his Lupus Foundation team. But once Gracie came along, a line had been drawn. They couldn't just be friends anymore – they had to be parents.

"So you two really have to go tomorrow?" Ian sipped from the wine glass. Their living arrangements were a sensitive topic. Lucy resided in Nashville and Ian in New York. She had Gracie all week and he flew down most weekends to see them. Lucy coming to him was a rare occasion given Gracie only being four months old.

"Ian," Lucy said wearily, not looking up from her plate.

"I know," he said, staring dejectedly down at his. Being a parent wasn't easy, especially when you couldn't be one five days out of the week.

* * *

Gracie's carrier was covered with a light blanket to shield her from the every prying camera of the paparazzi that lurked in the corners of LaGuardia airport. Every so often either Ian or Lucy would adjust it so that there was a crack for fresh air but so that she was concealed while napping. If she was awake, one of them held her and she would charm the cameras. For being an infant, Gracie was brave; another trait she got from her mother.

Over the past four months, Ian had a growing hatred towards airports. Once they meant travelling; now they only stood for the heartache that came with not being able to hold his baby girl until the weekend. He always bought her a stuffed animal at one of the kiosks to keep her happy and comfortable over the plane ride down to Nashville. Today it was a plush white dog that resembled Lucy's dog Jack; he'd already gotten her one that looked like his two labradoodles.

"Buy her more of those and they'll be so many that there won't be room in her crib for _her_," Lucy laughed as he handed over his credit card to the cashier.

"Hey, it's tradition," Ian smiled, taking the bag held out to him over the counter. "Besides, if someone ever asks her where she got it one day, she can say her daddy got it for her."

"Let's hope to God she isn't _that_ sixteen year old who packs it away into her bag every day to go to school."

He chuckled, shaking his head in amusement as they began to walk to Lucy's gate. The closer they got, the more Ian wished there had been a longer line at security. Gracie gave a small cry as they approached gate 26 and he sighed. It was almost that time.

"Hi, Baby," Ian said, kneeling down to take the blanket off the carrier. He was sure a thousand cameras were probably going off right now, but he didn't care. Gracie grabbed the brim of his worn out baseball cap and he smiled ruefully. In twenty minutes, he wouldn't see his beautiful little girl for five days –five whole days was a long time for a father. Five days without your child was grating no matter how long he was given to adjust to it.

Being without Gracie never felt right; even performing onstage for those five days couldn't shake the feeling away.

It was a void he couldn't explain. Gracie was a part of him, right down to her little nose. For those five days, it felt like a puzzle piece was missing. And a 1,000 piece puzzle was aggravating when there were only 999 pieces in the box.

Gently, he cradled Gracie to his chest while sitting down next to Lucy in the seat beside her. Ian closed his eyes and soaked in the moment. He never stopped thinking about his daughter during the week, but this was his last chance to be a father physically until his drip down south the following weekend.

Most of the time he wished Lucy and him had become an item, even if it was because they were having a baby. To say that Gracie Eve Hale had come into Ian's life unexpectedly was completely accurate. Thanks to too much to drink at the Pretty Little Liars wrap party and repressed feelings, he and Lucy found themselves in bed, devoid of clothes and laden with pounding headaches. One morning he was waking up next to her clad in nothing but a sheet and the next he was finding out that she was pregnant. Not being one to back down from responsibility, Ian stood by Lucy for the entirety of her pregnancy and took care of her like any good boyfriend or spouse would.

Except he was neither her boyfriend nor her spouse. They were friends – just friends. According to her, it would be better that they stay platonic for the baby's sake. It didn't matter how much Ian negated Lucy's conclusion in his head; he didn't make advances out of respect for her wishes. They would just be two friends who were raising their baby together. Nothing more, nothing less.

But every time he had to leave them, he wished it was the opposite. Did he have lingering feelings for Lucy? Ian hadn't given much thought to it. He'd been so consumed with his job and being a parent that his romantic life had been put on the back burner.

Lucy bit her lip, watching Ian interact with their daughter. "Don't think it doesn't break my heart to see you like this," she said softly, playing with the ring on her finger. It was her grandmother's ring; she never took it off, not even to shower.

Ian didn't reply. He was bitter over the fact that Lucy refused to move to New York or compromise about their living arrangements. She could write and produce music anywhere she wanted, but he couldn't act in Tennessee unless he was cast in a movie that filmed on location.

"Ian?"

"I know," he said softly, kissing the top of Gracie's head. "It still kills me though."

He held Gracie to his chest while Lucy stared at the clock, willing it to move faster. Whenever it came time for the airport, things turned to tension and she hated it. She understood Ian's qualms about the distance, but she wanted to raise Gracie where she grew up.

Finally, the stewardess began to call boarding. Ian closed his eyes, wishing the clock to turn back time. He didn't want the precious moment to be over. They said absence made the heart grow fonder, but it also made his heart grow sadder.

He'd been able to carry Gracie all the way to the tarmac until Lucy held her arms out for the infant. Holding her close for another minute, Ian bit back the tears that always formed when it was time to say goodbye. "I'll see you next week," he murmured and handed Gracie to Lucy. He watched with angst ridden eyes as the two made their way down the long hallway to the plane and then turned away –Ian could never bring himself to watch their plane lift off. It meant Gracie was as good as gone for five days.

They said absence made the heart grow fonder, but in all truthfulness, Ian could only attest to it making his heart grow sadder.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Let me know in the comments! Next chapter will definitely go more into their relationship, not just Gracie.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Holy cow, you guys are amazing. I asked for ten reviews and I got 30. I'm really happy you guys are enjoying this, especially because it's Lucian and not Ezria. Please continue to let me know what you think or any ideas you might have! Your reviews really mean the world to me and if I get as many as I did for the first chapter, you can guarantee a quick update. **

**Many thanks to Lyndsey, Flo, and Emily for helping me with this story when I was at a loss! **

**DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with Lucy or Ian nor do I know them personally. This story is fiction and is purely written for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. **

* * *

Coffee had always been a panacea for Lucy. It was a cure all for any problem – the lack of sleep she consistently touted due to Gracie waking up every two hours or a decision she couldn't quite make on her own. Coffee gave Lucy the liquid courage that alcohol gave others. Tea never cut it aside from the Throat Coat she often consumed when she had been in rehearsals or singing in the studio.

A steaming mug of the rich drink loaded with soy milk and sugar rested in the palms of her hands. The cup was engraved with silver music notes on black ceramic. Ian had bought it for her; he'd saw it in the window of a knickknack shop in the city and brought it with him on his last trip down to Nashville. Speaking of which, his plane would be landing in an hour.

Lucy took a sip of her coffee and leaned back against the breakfast nook that separated her kitchen from her living room. The layout of her Nashville apartment didn't vary much from what she'd had back when she lived in LA. Her furniture didn't change much either; Lucy still had the porcelain deer head over her fireplace and skull accents were dotted here and there around the space.

"I know I've said it before, but looking at this little girl makes me so proud."

Her mother was sitting on the steel colored sofa, bouncing Gracie on her knee. Initially when Lucy produced the news of her pregnancy, Julie had been skeptical. Lucy had been 25 – the same age she'd been when she'd had Lucy's older sister – but Julie's career was vastly different from her daughter's. But as the months progressed into labor and labor progressed into birth, having a grandchild immediately settled with her; Ian's helping hand made it a bit easier to accept as well.

"It doesn't hurt to hear," Lucy laughed as Gracie flashed her grandmother her infamous gummy smile. She was a relatively happy baby and Lucy thanked the fates everyday for her easy going temperament. Granted she got it from her father, but Lucy wouldn't admit that. She was far too stubborn. "She's a bit different from an album, isn't she?"

Julie laughed and gently propped Gracie's head against her upper arm to cradle her. "You and Ian are doing a great job."

The mention of Ian made Lucy freeze. He was a touchy subject, although she wouldn't let her mother know that. They'd barely spoken since she and Gracie had left New York other than when he had called on Wednesday to let her know he'd be in late Friday night and to leave the spare key under the doormat. It was hard – something about their last squabble seemed so upsetting to even Lucy. She understood Ian's side of the constant tug of war they took park in, but did he understand hers?

"Yeah," Lucy breathed, taking a sip of her coffee. Her eyes averted downwards to the shiny mahogany floor of her apartment to avoid her mother's questioning gaze.

Julie got up from the couch, gently resting Gracie on her hip. The baby grappled onto her chiffon blouse with a tiny fist – Gracie was always one for closeness. "You know what I think," she murmured. While Julie was proud of Lucy's strides as a mother, she wished she had taken the advantages of not having to be a single mom. Ian was willing and ready to take care of Gracie with her; when Julie imagined being separated from Lucy and Maggie when they were infants, she questioned just how Ian was able to cope – or if he was at all.

"And you know what I think," Lucy retorted back softly, her eyes still cast to the ground. "I want to raise Gracie where I grew up. New York is too much like Hollywood. I don't want her to become obsessed with glamour like Suri Cruise or something."

"Do you think Ian would let her grow up like that? The man shies away from cameras anytime he spots them," Julie chided. To say Ian hated the paparazzi was an understatement. Any video Pop Candies tried to catch of him with Gracie and Lucy, he would his daughter with his body and lower his baseball cap over his eyes.

"No, but…"

"But what, Lucy?"

"But I'm her mother," she replied, at a loss for other words. Lucy held her arms out for Gracie. Julie handed her granddaughter over, but her expression towards Lucy was blatantly not amused. "I'm her mommy."

"And Ian's her father." Julie took the mug from Lucy's one hand so she could support Gracie better, but ended up holding her palm in hers. "Luc, he loves this little girl more than life itself. You have a father who's willing to be active in her life. Don't take that away from her. Or from him."

Julie picked up her patent leather bag and kissed both Lucy and Gracie goodbye. "She's his too," she muttered to her daughter before opening the apartment door to go about her daily errands.

Lucy looked down at her daughter – Gracie had Ian's nose and his curly hair. She knew she was just as much his as she was hers, but they both wanted different things – Ian wanted to act, Lucy wanted her music. He loved the bright lights of New York and she loved the down home feeling of living in Tennessee. They just didn't fit as pieces of a puzzle right now; she'd accepted it long ago, no matter how much them falling out of sync hurt.

"Ah, well," she sighed, kissing the bridge of Gracie's nose. One could call Lucy stubborn, but you couldn't deny that she didn't love her daughter. The little girl brought a certain light to her eyes that had been missing for years. "Daddy will be here tonight."

Instinctively, Gracie gave her mother the same big smile she always did. Lucy always imagined what she would look like when she was older and gave the world that heart stopping smile – she and Ian would be keeping the boys away with a baseball bat for sure.

"You love Daddy, don't you?" Gracie gurgled, answering Lucy's question – it was another thing the young woman couldn't deny.

* * *

Ian creaked the door open to Lucy's apartment around 11 at night Nashville time. He knew Gracie would be fast asleep, but it wouldn't be long until she woke up for her routine midnight cry. The gray newsboy cap was practically cemented to the top of his head from the plane's cabin pressure and the hairspray that they'd used to keep his hair intact onstage only hours before. His face felt unclean despite washing all the foundation from it before leaving the theatre. Ian loved performing, but when it came to the aesthetics part, he wasn't necessarily a happy camper.

He tiptoed as best as he could in his clunky Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers, trying to maneuver his duffel bag so it wouldn't hit anything or knock something over – there was this recurring terror that he'd knock over a lamp and set the whole place on fire. Apparently, being a parent brought about more irrational fears.

"Hey." Ian looked up, startled by Lucy's voice. She was sitting on the couch with the television playing _Friends_ at a low volume. He smiled and raised his hand to give her a silent hello, but his elbow collided with a nearby wall.

"Shit," he wailed perhaps a bit too loudly. Lucy giggled, getting up from her perch on the couch, she shook her head in amusement – Ian had always been such a klutz. How he managed to not get hit in the head by stage lights or trip over set pieces was a mystery to her. "Oh shit."

"Quiet," she laughed, reaching out to take his duffel bag. "Here, let me take this. You go sit; I'll get ice for your funny bone."

Ian smiled at her both apologetically and thankfully. If Gracie woke up, it would be his yelp that was at fault for throwing her whole sleep schedule off. He shrugged off the navy windbreaker he donned to brace himself against the brisk temperature of the plane's cabin and the airport. Lucy had the heat cranked up which made him regret wearing a sweater. Ian was still spent from lugging himself about the airport.

"Thanks," he said once sitting on the plush couch. Lucy handed him the self made ice pack and he rested the cold package on his knee before bending to rest his elbow on it. The coldness that surged through his body felt refreshing. "Let's just hope I don't wake up with a bruise."

Lucy laughed and reached for his duffel bag. "Want me to start unpacking for you?"

Ian nodded with a smile on his face. The tension that had formed after her take off from New York had vanished and they were the Lucy and Ian that had dominated the set of _Pretty Little Liars_ a year and a half before. Under the layers of parenthood were the 5"2 girl with huge eyebrows and huge dreams and the goofy, but more so charming guy who reveled in being able to do what he loved.

"I might have done a real doozy on this one. Tell Gracie I love her if I can't hold her tomorrow."

"Don't be so dramatic," Lucy laughed, unzipping the bag. When Ian came to Nashville, he slept on the couch; it pulled out into a bed and a comfy one at that, but it was still a couch none the less. Gracie's nursery had taken up what would've been the guest room and Lucy used the other tiny room as her office and music studio.

Ian rolled his eyes. "I'm an actor. It's what I do."

He trained his eyes on the screen, watching the antics of Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey – boy, were those lots of names. The sitcom used to be Ian's guilty pleasure until Troian had done some digging and caught him watching an episode on his laptop in his dressing room when he wasn't filming. More often than not, he found himself trying to compare everyone on set to which character they'd be. When he looked at them now, Ian and Lucy oddly paralleled Ross and Rachel. But he wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself.

"What's this?" Lucy held up a bound script in the dimness of the apartment. Ian furrowed his brow, trying to make out the typewriter-esque writing on the cover. Being it this late, it took a moment for what the script was to register in his head.

Familiarization broke out onto Ian's face moments later. "Oh, that's a script for a new television pilot my agent sent over. I haven't read it yet, but she said it sounds promising."

"A new project?" Lucy smiled at the expression on his face. Acting was Ian's passion and the wide smile that broke out when he talked about it always made some repressed feeling inside of her curl.

"Yeah – my contract in the play is running out soon and I'd rather be busy than sitting around my apartment, you know?"

Lucy nodded, looking over the script in her hands. "If you want any help going through it and running lines, I'd be happy to be of assistance."

"Really?" He wasn't paying attention to the television set anymore. The boyish giddiness that Ian used to feel when around Lucy began to resurface.

She reached for his hand to deposit the heavy script into it. "Of course." Their fingers brushed and for the slightest of seconds, both Ian and Lucy felt a shock rekindle.

They did say old feelings died hard.

But what didn't die hard was reality – reality was sleeping in the form of Gracie. It didn't occur to neither Lucy nor Ian that with a new project in the works, life was about to get ten times harder. But when morning came with the wails of their daughter, it had to set in.


	3. Chapter 3

**Don't kill me; I have a valid reason as to why I haven't updated in a while. I'm currently in a show that's been filled with taxing rehearsal after taxing rehearsal. We close tomorrow though so you can expect more free time and more updates in your future!**

**So, yeah. Please review! They mean the world to me and 15+ get a chapter to you faster! I love hearing what you guys think about the story.**

**Also, if you don't like the pairing of Lucian, please don't read or leave nasty comments. This story is writing for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. It is in no way non-fiction. I'm not affiliated with neither Ian nor Lucy. I just ship them.**

* * *

A piercing wail cut through the stillness of Lucy's home, but only woke one of the inhabitants. Ian sat up from the pull out bed he'd been restlessly sleeping on and rubbed his eyes. Looking to the clock on the television cable box, he noted that it was 4:30 in the morning; Ian had set his alarm for 5 hours later. But sleep wasn't coming to the young father that night, no matter how hard he tried. He'd tossed and turned, played instrumental music through his ear-buds, and tried to tune into a sleep meditation video on Youtube, but nothing was working.

Gracie's cry soared through the house once more and Ian knew he couldn't avoid his baby daughter's wails for one more second. Pushing up from the bed, he shrugged his faded navy tee shirt over his head and padded his way towards the nursery, the cries becoming louder and louder as he went. Thank God Lucy was a deep sleeper; Gracie crying in the middle of the night was the one moment Ian could spend quality time with his little girl.

"Hey there," Ian said softly as he approached Gracie's crib. The baby, hearing her father's voice, ceased her crying and instead began to whimper as if she was asking Ian to hold her. "I've got you, don't worry." Gently, he reached down and gathered Gracie into his arms before going to sit in the rocking chair that had her name written on the seat in swirly lettering.

"What's up, Gracie?" Ian set the chair in motion by pushing off the ground with the soles of his feet. When she was uncomfortable or startled, the rocking motion continually managed to ease Gracie and whatever feeling she had inside that she couldn't exactly express in words.

"I know it's upsetting," he said, brushing a tiny little curl from his daughter's forehead. "Daddy has to go early tomorrow morning; only a few couple of days though."

Leaving both Gracie _and_ Lucy was a difficult task to endure, be it walking through the terminal to his plane or dropping them off at the airport. They were his family, even if they weren't exactly the conventional kind one saw on television. Every day he went without them was excruciating. Ian poured himself into his work and used it as a distraction, but coming home to an empty and cold apartment while he had his daughter and…well, whatever Lucy was, in another state killed him.

"I wish it didn't have to be like this, baby. If I could change it, I would in a heartbeat. You know that. But your Momma just won't budge about moving and I'm caught in a legally binding contract."

Here he was telling his infant daughter about the technicalities of his Broadway contract. Ian shook his head in amusement. "You probably have no idea what I'm talking about right now, but the point is that I love you very much. And while things aren't exactly easy, I wouldn't trade you for a time machine to go back and change it all."

What Ian failed to notice was that Gracie had shut her eyes midway through his speech. Looking down to the baby nestled in his arms, he smiled and kissed her forehead. Now, he felt the exhaustion of traveling weighing down upon him. Standing up from the rocking chair, Ian navigated his way back to the living room on sleepy legs and plopped down in the arm chair to the corner of the space. He placed Gracie on his chest, leaned back, and within minutes was out like a light.

* * *

When Lucy didn't find Gracie in her crib a few hours later, a gut feeling told her that her baby would be exactly where she was lying presently; on her father's chest. Sunlight streamed gently through the bay window to the back of the living room and cast a soft glow around Ian and Gracie as the slept. Lucy simply smiled and headed into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee.

Every so often as she waited for the pot to fill up, she glanced at Ian and their sleeping daughter. If she allowed herself to, Lucy imagined it to be a totally normally scene on a totally normal Nashville morning. There were no complications, no plane rides, no custody arguments or conversations. In her fantasy, they were a family – the normal, high functioning kind. Lucy made the coffee while Ian woke Gracie up and changed her diaper. Lucy felt Gracie her breakfast while Ian cooked their own. And for a fraction of a second, she allowed the feelings she kept under lock and key to surface.

Only now though, when Ian and Gracie were asleep .

"Hey," spoke Ian's groggy voice. Lucy jumped, her daydream disappearing as quickly as it had come. The timer on the coffee maker had gone off, as did Gracie's soft cry. "And good morning to you too."

"Damn coffee pot," Lucy muttered, reaching to shut it off quickly before turning back to Ian and her daughter. "Morning." She gave a soft laugh, feeling as though she'd been caught in the act of wishing for something more.

"How did you sleep?" Ian pushed up from the arm chair and rocked side to side to quell Gracie's whimpers. They evaporated within seconds when her tiny blue eyes met the hazel ones of her mother.

"Just fine. You?"

The conversation was awkward, a far cry from the one they'd had the night before while watching _Friends_. Lucy chewed on her bottom lip and then took the coffee pot from the machine and poured the steaming liquid into two mugs; one for her, one for Ian. It was the baby in the middle of them that seemed to bring their progress to a stop. With Gracie, they had to be parents. And being parents for Lucy and Ian meant dueling with various issues.

"Slept like a log after she woke up. Beforehand I was tossing and turning."

"Good to know our daughter is like sleep therapy," Lucy laughed. "Coffee?"

"Don't mind if I do."

* * *

"So what's the love story between these two?" After a quiet breakfast, Lucy and Ian got to work on the script his agent had sent him in New York. It was for a new television show on the CW Network. Nothing on the supernatural level; just a simple city romance with twists and turns. Ian usually didn't agree to many projects like this, but the writing was promising and they were keen on hiring him.

"High school sweethearts who're reunited after 7 years; it's pretty basic, but I like the way they've written my character. He's a struggling artist, having forgone college much to his parents' dismay. The girl is a hot shot journalist assigned to reviewing one of his art showings. Bada bing, bada boom, their eyes meet and the rest is a history."

Lucy raised an eyebrow towards him. "Usually you don't agree to stuff like this."

"I know," Ian nodded. "But it pays well and they apparently want me in this role badly. The writing isn't half bad either and a gig would be nice after the show if I manage to book it."

"Understandable," she replied, cracking upon the bound script. "So, shall we begin?"

"You read wherever it says _Layla_. I'll read wherever it says _Mason_."

"No, I thought I was going to be reading for the part you're going for," Lucy said, the corner of her lip rising in a small smile. Ian whacked her on the shoulder, causing her to cry out in mock pain.

"You big baby," he smirked.

"Oh shut up and read."

Ian rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. His blue orbs scanned the crisp white paper copy that both he and Lucy held onto, searching for his first line. They were going to read through Layla and Mason's first encounter at the art gallery he was showing his meager paintings at.

"You know," he said, using the stage direction given to him in the script in his tone. "I used to think that if you were ever going to come to one of my shows, you'd be on my arm, not shoving a camcorder in my face."

"Still the same," Lucy said with a smirk, just as it said to do so in the script. "Nothing about you has changed a bit."

"Would you have it any other way?"

"Not really. You were funny back in high school though. Now I can't tell if you're still humorous or just a jerk."

"That hurts," Ian pouted, his eyes flickering to Lucy as she licked her lips in preparation to read the next line.

"So did you breaking up with me."

"Layla," Ian murmured, using the chiding inflection it the script told him to use. "I did it for your own good."

"Leaving me was for my own good? Telling me that we were forever and always and then dumping me to the side of the road was for my benefit," Lucy said, the sadness in her voice sounding more real than just acting. "You know, I've made my decision. You're not funny anymore, Mason. You're just a jerk."

The script called for Layla to turn on her heels and stalk out of the art show without her interview. The two had gotten into the dialogue, so much so that Lucy had shifted from next to Ian all the way to the other side of the couch.

"Wait," Ian said, reaching for Lucy's arm. He yanked her back over to his side on the couch, hand cupping underneath her chin. The minute their eyes met was the minute the spell of the script broke. It was all too real now – for the first time in a long time, Ian could see hurt coloring Lucy's hazel eyes. It gutted him; a nagging feeling in his stomach told him that he was the reason for it.

"Why didn't we ever try to make it work," she asked him. Lucy didn't pull her chin from the palm of Ian's hand, but looked down, wanting to hide the tears that had welled up in the corner of her eyes. "Even when we found out I was pregnant, why didn't we try to be together?"

It was a question Ian had never considered coming up before. He'd always figured Lucy was happy living their separate lives, but coming together when necessary for Gracie's sake. Sure, he wasn't satisfied, but it always came to giving Lucy what she wanted first. Making sure she was happy and comfortable with their situation had been a priority for Ian when they'd first found out about Gracie. But now, he wasn't so keen they'd make the right decision in the first place.

"The timing just wasn't right and we…," Ian began, but he couldn't go on. Even _he_ knew it was a bullshit excuse. And Lucy had no problem calling him out on it.

"That's a crap reply and you know it," she said wiping the corner of her eyes. "We were having a baby together; nothing could've given us more perfect timing. We could've been together and it wouldn't have been this hard."

Ian ran a hand through the tufts of his curly dark hair. It was a habit he had when he was nervous. "But would you have been happy with me then? Or would it have felt more like an obligation to be with me because I was the father of your child?"

His question hung in the stiff air of Lucy's living room. Their stares battled against one another, both of them trying to find the answer to his question in the expressions on one another's faces. But Ian maintained a good poker face and before Lucy could open her mouth to give an answer, Gracie's cry startled them both. It wasn't time to argue about why they'd never made it out as a couple; it was time to be parents.

It was always time to be a parent.

Wordlessly, Lucy got up from the couch and dropped the script in Ian's lap. The now had the crumpled, already-been-used look instead of the fresh appearance of coming out of a manila envelope. And for a moment, he wondered that if he'd given a more bold reply, would he and Lucy have been able to take a fresh turn with their relationship instead of running into the same dead end time after time.


End file.
